To be sure, survivors are not taking for granted the notion that a Democratic Congress would move such measures forward. But they have recognized that they might have some say about that.
“Survivors are powerful,” said Elisa Batista, the campaign director of UltraViolet, a gender equity nonprofit that worked with Giuffre’s brothers to organize a vigil for her. “We have the numbers. Please vote.”
After a campaign from feminist organizations including UltraViolet, Apple implemented new App Store restrictions on “nudify” apps that can generate nonconsensual intimate imagery. Now, Google must do the same on its Play Store.
“Opt-out models are not consent,” Jenna Sherman, a campaign director for the advocacy group UltraViolet, which focuses on the impacts of consumer tech on gendered and sexual violence, told The Verge. “Being given the option to opt out rather than choosing actively to opt in are very different. One requires a person to be informed and to be enthusiastically and intentionally choosing something, and the other is passive and doesn’t actually place any power into the consumer’s hand. This decision is being made by the companies, and the consumer is being forced to adapt to that decision, and the default model is that you will be subjected to that surveillance.”
Sherman notes that companies are likely well aware of the fact that many people will find it difficult or impossible to truly opt out when always-listening and always-watching devices become ubiquitous. “Not everyone sees the recording light, not everyone hears whatever warning sound is playing on a watch, especially if you’re at a party or a concert, or if you’re a parent at a children’s playroom,” said Sherman.
Elisa Batista, campaign director at the women-led gender justice group UltraViolet, said in a statement that “Harvey Weinstein, like so many powerful abusers, thought the system would enable and protect him forever. That era is over.”
“This victory belongs to courageous survivors like Miriam Haley, Kaja Sokola, and Jessica Mann who came forward at great personal risk to tell their stories, as well as those abused by Weinstein who were unable to,” Batista continued.
“Thankfully, justice was delivered. But our work doesn’t end here,” she stressed. “Across the country, it’s still the case that a majority of survivors of sexual abuse are often not served by our courts,” said Batista. “We will continue to stand with survivors and fight the systems that enable and protect abusers—whether in Hollywood, the workplace, the White House, or anywhere else.”"
Today I’m speaking with Jenna Sherman, who serves as campaign director for Ultraviolet, a national advocacy organization that drives feminist cultural and political change, and works to improve the lives of all women and gender expansive people by disrupting patriarchy and creating a cost for sexism. You may have seen Ultraviolet’s recent campaign against Flock Cameras — specifically in raising awareness for their partnership with Ulta. Jenna joins me today to discuss the issue and what folks can do to fight back.
UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, launched the petition on Aug. 26. On the group’s website, it touts a campaign called “Ulta: Mass surveillance isn’t pretty,” in which it demands that the company “drop flock now.” It claims that the technology puts “women’s safety and privacy at risk.”
In the petition, UltraViolet states that “the negative impacts of Flock’s mass surveillance system are staggering.”
UltraViolet, a women-led gender justice organization, launched its “Drop Flock” campaign this month, calling on Ulta Beauty to terminate contracts with Flock Safety and other mass surveillance companies. The organization said its petition had surpassed 15,000 signatures as of Sept. 8.
“Ulta Beauty has built a multibillion-dollar business on women’s trust,” UltraViolet Campaign Director Jenna Sherman said in a statement accompanying the campaign’s launch. “Putting Flock, an invasive mass surveillance system, right outside its stores without customer knowledge or consent is a direct violation of that trust.”
A women’s advocacy group, Ultraviolet, has a petition out, “Hey Ulta, Mass Surveillance Isn’t Pretty.” They are calling for Ulta to end its use of, and relationship with, Flock Safety.
Some critics fear the company is overstepping their privacy by scanning plates and monitoring behavior without getting a warrant.
Woman-led gender justice organization UltraViolet is now leading an effort to get the cameras taken out of Ulta parking lots. “You stop at Ulta Beauty on your way home for mascara. You quickly park, pay, and leave. But Flock (also called Flock Safety) is watching,” the organization said on Instagram.
The organization urged followers to demand that Ulta Beauty immediately stop using the cameras in parking lots.
Ultraviolet, a nonprofit women's advocacy group, put out a petition on August 26, titled "Hey Ulta: Mass Surveillance Isn't Pretty," calling on the beauty retail giant to end its contract with Flock, which the group sees as a threat to women's privacy and safety.
"While the majority of Flock ALPR cameras are deployed via contracts with law enforcement agencies — which is where much of the abuse we're concerned about takes place — retailers like Ulta are also playing a key role in normalizing AI surveillance and feeding the personal data of everyday people into a vast network that could be accessed by all kinds of actors that don't always have our best interest in mind," Jenna Sherman, a campaign director for Ultraviolet, told Business Insider.
Activist organization UltraViolet posted online that Ulta Beauty is one of Flock’s “biggest commercial customers” and the internet is not happy. Sr. Director of Brand Communication at the org, Rebecca Gerber, told me they got this information from a press release on Flock’s website as well as an interview with the head of Loss Prevention at Ulta, Rory Stallard, and Flock, where it was noted that post-COVID, Ulta saw an increase in violence at their stores and they implemented technology to help with that.
Civil liberties group UltraViolet launched a campaign called “Hey Ulta: Mass surveillance isn’t pretty,” urging the retailer to cut ties with Flock and deactivate the cameras.
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